


Rebirth

by killerweasel



Category: Good Omens (TV Series)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Maggot Husbands (Good Omens)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23515414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerweasel/pseuds/killerweasel
Summary: Falling isn't something which happens instantly. It takes hours, possibly days to end up in Hell.
Relationships: Hastur/Ligur (Good Omens)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 28





	Rebirth

Title: Rebirth  
Fandom: Good Omens (TV Series)  
Characters: Hastur, Ligur  
Pairings: Hastur/Ligur  
Word Count: 1,095  
Rating: PG-13  
A/N: After Episode 6.  
Summary: Falling isn't something which happens instantly. It takes hours, possibly days to end up in Hell.

Hastur pauses in what he's doing, going so still the human soul he's been playing with actually stops screaming in pain and terror. The Duke turns his head, listening to something off in the distance. Something's wrong. What little color he has in his face vanishes and he snaps his fingers, returning the soul to the cell he snatched it from before almost sprinting down the corridor.

He ends up in a deep part of Hell, a place no one has visited since they Fell. There are craters in the ground, one for each angel cast out from Heaven. The place makes him feel uneasy and if he listens hard enough, he can still hear the echoes of the screams as they pulled themselves free, bleeding and broken, from the hard ground.

In the distance, Hastur sees a huddled form at the bottom of one of the holes. It isn't a new crater; he knows exactly who it belonged to because his was next to it. The hole is slightly deeper than before. He's moving before he realizes it, sliding down the side of the pit to the figure below. If he's right, the ruined body in front of him, a freshly Fallen angel, is Ligur. When the world was rebooted and everything was restored, in order for Ligur to be a demon, he needed to be an angel first. Falling isn't something which happens instantly. It takes hours, possibly days to end up in Hell.

Hastur places his hands on the mass of burnt tissue and shattered bones. He concentrates, letting his aura slowly creep into what will be a demonic body. Pain lances through his head as he encounters bits of leftover Holy energy which has yet to be purged from the former angel. He knows from experience it will linger for months to follow. What the angels don't understand, and no demon is going to tell them about it unless they have to, is the Fall lasts for far longer than anyone ever thought. It's a never-ending punishment where the scars still ache and occasionally the ancient wounds will reopen for no reason at all.

At least he has the knowledge of what needs to be done to repair the damage now. They had to figure things out on their own the first time around, not knowing how to heal without having access to angelic Grace. There were ways around it and some individuals were better at it than others (the best among them would become some of Hell's greatest torturers, being able to restore damage in order to inflict more pain). Hastur is an excellent healer when he wants to be.

Taking a deep breath, he allows his left hand to shift into a wriggling pile of maggots. The larva burrow into the cuts and gashes, feeding on the ruined tissue and then healing from the inside out. If he focuses hard enough, he can actually taste what they're eating and knows the difference between ruined and new flesh.

The shape in front of him looks more like a body and less like a shattered husk. The bones in the limbs straighten out, reshaping to what they should be. Fingers and toes flex against the hard ground. Hastur stops breathing (not that he needs to in the first place) when he hears the beating of a heart coming from the chest under his hand. The beat is feeble at first, barely moving, before steadily growing stronger. He recognizes the beat from hundreds of nights of sharing the same bed with Ligur. Ligur, his Ligur, is taking shape beneath his fingertips.

He carefully eases the body over onto its stomach and places his hand between the two shattered wings. Wings are tricky. Healing a wing takes skill. One wrong move and a demon will end up crippled as the bones are delicate. Hastur works on one wing at a time, making very sure to heal every burn, get rid of ruined feathers, and check for tears in the skin. By the time he's finished with both, he's starting to feel exhausted, but he can't stop yet, not when the most important part is still to come.

He sits back, giving his hands and arms a shake. The demonic aura in front of him almost feels whole, almost feels like it should. He grits his teeth hard enough to make his jaw ache before gently placing a hand on either side of the figure's head. Hastur thinks about the original Fall, about the time he's spent with Ligur, how they became Dukes, all the things they've done together over the centuries. After a few minutes, he can feel memories being projected back, the same events from another pair of eyes.

A chameleon sprouts out of the top of Ligur's head, yawning and stretching before making itself comfortable. It flashes through a series of colors before settling on a green so dark it's almost black. Ligur sits up with a shriek, flailing wildly before wrapping his arms around his frame. He pants harshly and then sinks back in Hastur's arms.

"You've come back to me. Rest now and regain your strength and then we'll go home." Hastur buries his nose in the hollow of Ligur's throat. "You have no idea how much I've missed you. Can't do a proper cemetery lurk. Tearing the flesh from someone's back lost its fun. I've killed so many disposable demons that Beelzebub won't let me near them any longer."

"I had to Fall again. Was weird. For a moment, I was who I used to be... Before. Then it went away. It was some horrible tease and if I ever get the chance, I am going to have a word or three with Her." Ligur growls softly, his nails turning into claws before shifting back. "Glad you were the one to find me, love. You know me better than anyone else. Actually feel stronger now than I did the last time around. You remade me better than before."

They sit in silence for a bit as they both regain their strength. Hastur can barely keep his eyes open, but he's afraid to let them close. He doesn't want to lose sight of Ligur again, not for a while.

With a sigh, Ligur vanishes his wings back to the ether. "I think we should go home. And later, after we've caught up on what we've missed, we're going to go to that cemetery you love and lurk the fuck out of it."

"I like the sound of that, Ligur."


End file.
